Keyboard.



PATENTED APR. 4, 1905.

H. ODELL.

KEYBOARD.

APPLIOATIOIT FILED AUG. 1 0, 1904.

[if .I my M w m.

WITNESSES: I I i Z54 Patented April 2, 1905.

' MELANOTHON HELI ODELL, OF CINCINNATI, (EH10.

KEYESOA SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Ho. ?86,669, datedApril 431, 1905.

Application. filed August 10, 1904. Serial lilo. 220,206.

To In whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ll lELANG'ZHON Hum: ODELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of i amilton andState of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Keyboard, of which thefollow" ing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to pianos and organs; and its object is to providea new and improved keyboard in which the keys are not liable to stick onaccount of the tightening of the bushing on the balance and guide pinscaused by the swelling of the wood carrying the bushing and at the sametime allow the use of any kind of fall-board, as all cross" rails,key-binders, and like devices are entirely dispensed with.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointedout in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothviews.

Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view of the improvement, and Fig. 2is a cross-section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

On the frame A of the keyboard are arranged the usual front rail B, theintermediate rail C, and the back rail D, on which latter normally restthe rear ends of the keys E, mounted to swing on the balance-pins F,resting on the intermediate rail C, the front ends of the keys beingguided by the guide-pins G, rising from the front rail B.

Each guide-pin G extends through a eloselyfitting bushing H, of felt orother similar suitable material, and this bushing is secured to a woodensupport I, titted in a recess in the body of the key E and glued orotherwise secured thereto, so as to practically form an integral part ofthe key.

Each balance-pin F is engaged at its sides and near the top thereof by abushing H, similar to the bushing H, and likewise attachcd to woodensuonort I, similar to the T 1 L L I support i, ano secured to the bodyof the key *1 to form a part thereot the same as the sum Y J. u r

ort l. as shown in the drawin s the su L I h 7 I t the bottom portion otport I forms part the key, w ile the support 1 is arranged on the topthereof, and each support is preferabi y forked at one end to receivethe bushing H or H at the inner faces of the fork members, the openingbetween the fork members registering with the apertures E and E formedin the key-body, and in which apertures extend the guide-pins G- and thebalance-pins F freely that is, without touching the walls of the saidapertures.

Each of the wooden supports 1 and 1 has its grain arranged at ang.es tothe grain of the body of the key E, and each wooden support ispreferably of the composite type-- that is, made of plurality ofsuperimposed layers of wood glued together, the grains of adjacentlayers crossing each other to render the support non-shrinkable initself and nonshrinkable relative to the body of the key E.

havii'ig the bushings mounted on the non shrinkable supports it isevident that the key is not liable to stick on the balance-pin F or onthe guide-pin G, and hence the key is always kept in proper position andis in proper condition to yield to the touch of the player.

lhe device is very simple and durable in construction and can be cheaplymanufactured and readily applied to the white as well as to the blackkeys of the keyboard.

iiavin g thus described my invention, 1 claim as new anddesire to securLetters Patent 1. A key for a keyboard, having a bushing, and across-grain wooden support for the bushing and attached to the key.

2. A key fora keyboard, having a body providcd with a recess, across-grain wooden support fitted into the said recess and secured inposition thereon, and a bushing carried by the said cros grain support.

3. A keyboard provided with an intermediate rail carryingbalance-pins,and keys mounted to swing on the said balance-pins, eachkey having :1 cross-grain support and a bushing Intestimonywhereoflimvosignod mynzuno I earned by the said support andengaging the to this S] ')6Cii'i0?tij10ll 1n tho presence of two snh- 1corresponding balance-pin. scribing Witnesses.

k. A keyboard provided with a front mil, MELANCTHON HILLF ODELL.guiilo-pins on the said front raih and keys hzw- .Vitnessos: ingcross-grain supports and bushings on tho Giins'rniz W. HEEL-MILL.)

said supports, engaging the said guide-pins. VINoux'i 8011mm.

